Mr. Speaker, the Minister of National Defence says his claim to be the architect of Operation Medusa was a “mistake“. Nothing could be further from the truth. The minister was deliberately untruthful and repeated his claims on more than one occasion. His falsehood was designed to promote his political fortunes. His actions have brought disgrace upon himself and angered the very people he serves. Will he now do the right thing and resign?

Mr. Speaker, the members opposite have been consistent in always talking a good game when it comes to our military but not delivering. For 10 years, the Conservatives underinvested in our military, not giving our troops the care, the tools, the equipment necessary.

That is why under this Minister of National Defence, I am so proud we are turning that around. We are finally looking at the investments our troops need in order to serve our country as well as we know they can and will.

The minister falsely and deliberately took credit for a major military offensive when the credit belonged to others. His apologies ring hollow, especially when he keeps insisting that the whole tawdry affair was just a mistake. This was no mistake. The minister made the choice to be dishonest with Canadians and he made a choice to repeat his false claim.

Mr. Speaker, once again we see the kind of outrage and volume generated by the members opposite when it comes to the military. Unfortunately, that level of passion did not translate into actions: supporting our troops, caring for our veterans. We had, for 10 years, a government that thought that talk was all it needed to do in terms of delivering for our military.

We are demonstrating that we understand the needs, the concerns, and the importance of investing properly in our military. That is exactly what we are doing under the tremendous leadership of our Minister of National Defence.

Mr. Speaker, we all remember that it was about this time last year when the Liberals tried to control the House with their infamous Motion No. 6. Now history is repeating itself.

The Liberals are justifying their actions on the grounds that they have to keep their election promises, but as we saw with electoral reform, those promises matter only when they benefit the Liberals.

Can the Prime Minister tell us what would prevent a future prime minister from taking advantage of the precedent he is setting to do the same thing and unilaterally change the rules of the game to his or her advantage?

Mr. Speaker, I hope that future prime ministers will answer questions from all members, not just from party leaders. I hope that future prime ministers will not make excessive use of omnibus bills and will not resort to prorogation to avoid problematic situations.

That is why we made those promises to Canadians, and that is why we are keeping our promises. We want to improve how the House works, and we will always be open to other members' suggestions for improving the services we offer in Ottawa and in our ridings.

Mr. Speaker, this is ridiculous. There is a difference between pretending that one believes in accountability and actually practising it. The Prime Minister is great at pretending. He gets an A plus. There was a question from my colleague. The Prime Minister takes all the questions he wants, but he does not answer any of them.

He is in the process of unilaterally changing the rules of Parliament to suit his own purpose so he can duck out whenever he wants. What is to stop any other future prime minister from doing the same thing now that he has broken with parliamentary tradition and set that sad precedent?

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to say that I have tremendous confidence in the intelligence and perspective of Canadians, who will always know how to hold people to account, always know to expect a greater level of openness and transparency.

Quite frankly, I think it is good that a prime minister would take questions from all members in the House, not just party leaders. I am pleased to be here more often than my predecessors to take more questions throughout the week. These are the kinds of things that I think make a huge difference. When one takes more questions every week than the predecessors ever have, that is good for democracy.

Mr. Speaker, women's participation in our society is crucial if we are to have a strong economy and strengthen the middle class. However, we know that there is still a gender wage gap. This is due to several factors, such as violence against women, poverty, and the under-representation of women in the labour force, public life, and even in the House.

Could the Prime Minister inform the House of the progress made on gender equality?

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Saint-Laurent and congratulate her for being here, in the House, to effectively represent her constituents.

Gender equality and opportunities for women are issues that are very important to us. For that reason, we have invested heavily in support for the middle class, and especially for women, by introducing the Canada child benefit, which helps nine out of 10 families and reduces child poverty. We have moved forward with a child care program and we are fighting gender-based violence. We have taken some steps, but we know that there is much more to be done.

Mr. Speaker, speaking of misleading Canadians, the Prime Minister has stood in the House and claimed to be giving more money to our military. I can tell the Prime Minister that he has cut $12 billion from the budget over the last two years. In our last year in government, we gave over twice what the Liberals spent during their time in office during the 1990s.

Will the Prime Minister commit, will he stand right now and say he will give back the $12 billion he has taken in the last two years?

Order. I cannot hear the answer. I need to hear the answer. Members know that it is important to have tough questions and sometimes answers they do not like, or vice versa, but the rules are we do not interrupt when someone else is speaking. That is common decency and adult behaviour, so let us behave as adults.

Mr. Speaker, after 10 years of underinvestment by the Conservative government, we are pleased that, following the defence policy review, we will be investing in the tools, the equipment, and the care for the men and women of the Canadian Armed Forces that they so justly deserve.

It is time to give our soldiers, our troops, the tools they need to be able to serve their country with all the valour and strength they have.

Mr. Speaker, this was a personal vacation with a long-time family friend. As I have said, I am very happy to work with the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner to answer any questions she may have.

Mr. Speaker, the Ethics Commissioner is currently investigating the Prime Minister for breaking the law. She has expressed concern that she might not be able to conclude her investigation by the time her term ends in July, meaning that her successor will start with a conflict of interest, because the next commissioner will be appointed by the very same Prime Minister he or she will be investigating.

Will the Prime Minister do the right thing and completely recuse himself from this appointment, or will he appoint a good Liberal who might just let him off the hook?

Mr. Speaker, it is particularly important that Canadians have confidence in the appointments made by any government, particularly after 10 years of patronage and partisanship from the previous Harper government.

The fact is, we put in place an independent appointments process that understands that the diversity and the qualities of Canadians coming to those appointments is the most important thing.

We are proud that over 60% of our 122 appointments so far have been women, that there has been a tremendous amount of diversity, of minorities, of indigenous people.

We will continue to make appointments of the highest calibre, because that is what Canadians expect.

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister is under active investigation for breaking the law by the Ethics Commissioner. He insults Canadians by refusing to answer any questions, even the simplest of questions, with regard to that investigation.

His staff tell him that he should only say that he is happy to meet with the Ethics Commissioner and answer any questions she might have, but Canadians deserve answers.

I have a simple question. How many times has the Prime Minister been questioned by investigators? The question is simple: how many times?

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has identified the relationship with indigenous people as Canada's most important one.

This year the government will be spending half a billion dollars on Canada 150. However, we must remember that our history is much older than 150 years, and for many, this is an anniversary of colonial accomplishment.

Can the Prime Minister tell us specifically how reconciliation efforts with indigenous people will be part of Canada 150?

Mr. Speaker, for our celebration of 150 years since Confederation, Canada has identified four themes to celebrate: youth, environment, diversity, and reconciliation with indigenous peoples, because as has been said many, many times, reconciliation is not just about governments and indigenous peoples, it is about all Canadians, non-indigenous as well.

That is what we are putting forward as celebrations of this year, of the first peoples of this land, of the learning, of the partnership, and mostly of the way we will move forward together in respect and in partnership, overturning decades and even centuries of colonialism.

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Social Development refuses to step in to save Service alimentaire communautaire, or SAC, the only organization in Salaberry-de-Valleyfield that provides food assistance services.

I would remind the minister that the use of food banks increased by 300% in December. In 2015-16, SAC helped over 5,000 people. Without federal assistance, the organization might be forced to shut down within a month's time.

What does the Prime Minister plan to do to help thousands of my constituents continue to put food on the table?

Mr. Speaker, we understand how serious the problem of food insecurity is for millions of Canadians every week.

That is why I strongly support the work done by community organizations, and that is why our government has taken so much concrete action to help families facing insecurity, whether it be the Canada child benefit, the $11.2-million investment in affordable housing in our most recent budget, or the $7.2 billion allocated for child care. We know that we need to do more to help families.